Who Is Jesus Christ?
Matthew 24:22-24
Satan is a master deceiver. His methods of
destroying the souls of men are numerous, but none is more successful than
false religion.He transforms his ministers into angels of light and preachers
of righteousness (I Cor. 1:13-15). He invents false christs, builds a
refuge of lies,and persuades people to trust a christ
he has invented and make lies a refuge for their souls. Then he gives his
captives peace and assurance with which he drags them to hell.Salvation is to
be had only by trusting the Christ of Holy Scripture. Any other christ is a
false christ,antichrist. "The One who is to be
enshrined in our minds and hearts must be the true Christ of the Bible.
Otherwise we have an idol at the center of our faith" (John Legg). We must
know who Jesus Christ is and what he has done if we are to trust him and be
saved by him. Faith in a false christ, (no matter how sincere,life
changing and comforting it is), is a false faith that will drag your soul to
hell at last. I do not say that a sinner must have any depth of theological
knowledge and understanding before he can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
That would be to preach a subtle form of works salvation. There are no
preconditions to be met by the sinner before he may believe on Christ. However,
I do say, true faith must have the true Christ for its object.You cannot be
saved trusting a false christ! Many false prophets
have gone out into the world in the spirit of antichrist preaching a false
christ (I John 4:1-4).It is therefore vital that God's servants clearly
identify the Christ of Holy Scripture.JESUS CHRIST IS THE SOVEREIGN GOD (Rom.
9:5). Being himself God, our Savior has absolute power, dominion, and control
over all creation. He always does what he will. He cannot fail to accomplish
his will to any degree. A god who fails is no God at all! JESUS CHRIST IS THE
EFFECTUAL REDEEMER OF HIS PEOPLE (Gal.3: 13). By his incarnation, obedience to
God and death upon the cross as their Substitute, Christ has established
perfect righteousness and fully satisfied the justice of God for his elect. By
effectual redemption he secured the eternal salvation of all his people. JESUS
CHRIST IS THE SUCCESSFUL SAVIOR (Matt. 1:21). All whom he purposed to save in
eternity and died to save at Calvary he will save at his appointed time. All who trust him do so
because he is a successful Savior!
Don Fortner